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Borough president’s offi ce to distribute funding for senior services
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
CMOHAMED@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Nearly $325,000 in funding for senior services
will be distributed by the Queens borough
president’s offi ce to support senior centers,
home care, meal services and more, Borough President
Donovan Richards announced on Monday, Jan. 10.
One year aft er a dedicated NYC Department for the
Aging (DFTA) funding stream administered by each
borough president’s offi ce was eliminated in the fi scal
year 2021 budget, Richards announced the restoration
of the $1.1 million Borough President’s Discretionary
DFTA Fund.
“Our elders disproportionately bore the brunt of the
COVID-19 pandemic. From food and housing insecurity
to isolation and the virus itself, which has proven
to be deadliest for older individuals, the obstacles our
seniors have faced these past two years are numerous,”
Richards said.
The fi scal year 2021 expense budget, which was
passed just three months aft er the outbreak of the
COVID-19 pandemic, saw millions of dollars in cuts to
DFTA, including the elimination of a $1.1 million pool
of discretionary funding shared amongst the fi ve borough
presidents’ offi ces and allocated to senior service
organizations across their respective boroughs.
The cut was opposed by all fi ve borough presidents,
including then-Acting Queens Borough President Sharon
Lee, who said that Queens elders were “shaft ed and
disproportionately shortchanged by the city’s budget.”
Upon taking offi ce, Richards took an active role in
getting the funding restored through negotiating with
the City Council, including Queens Council members
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards has announced funding for Queens senior services
on Jan. 10, 2021. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
such as then-Committee on Finance Chair Councilman
Daniel Dromm and borough delegation leader
Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz.
In May 2021 Richards testifi ed before the City Council
Committee on Finance, stating that many Queens
seniors are “wholly dependent” on the services this
funding supports.
With the fund restored, the Queens borough president’s
offi ce has already begun partnering with senior
service organizations to identify and allocate funding
toward programs designed to uplift Queens’ elders.
“I’m proud to have fought tirelessly, and successfully,
to get this critical funding stream restored this year,
and I look forward to working with our senior service
providers to help improve the lives of the more than
300,000 elders who proudly call Queens home — each
one of them deserving of the ability to age with grace
and dignity,” Richards said.
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